


07 - Pirate

by MemoriesOfVoxei



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [8]
Category: One Piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 00:56:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1623188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriesOfVoxei/pseuds/MemoriesOfVoxei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pirate? What's a pirate??</p>
            </blockquote>





	07 - Pirate

For Zoro, being a pirate was a way to achieve his goal. He would have done anything to reach it, and when Luffy offered to save him from certain death in exchange of working under him, he accepted. If he didn't' it would have meant death, and dying wouldn't let him become the best swordsman of the world. Also, it so happens that being a pirate would allow him to cross swords with Mihawk, currently the number one, and since defeating him is the only way to take his place, being a pirate surely was useful. He didn't care if people thought of him as good or as bad. He had a goal, and he planned to cross the finishing lie. So, why not?

For Usopp, being a pirate meant adventure. He had heard really incredible tales of pirates going to incredible islands, living incredible adventures, fighting incredible opponents, be it beast, human or monster, and returning with incredible glory. He always dreamt of being a hero, a grand warrior of the sea. He didn't want to be a coward anymore. He was weak, a liar, a wimp. He was tired of living that way. He wanted to be the great captain Usopp-sama from his tales he were telling Kaya. So, when Luffy offered him to become a pirate, have lots of adventures, he accepted. Because one day, he wanted to go back to his friend and tell her more tales again, but this time, he would be speaking with complete honesty.

For Sanji, being a pirate was an occasion to make his childhood dream come true. As a cook, he had heard tales of All Blue, where the fishes from all the seas gather. He had dreamt of finding this legendary sea, a cook's paradise. However, whenever he had talked about his dreams to other adult cooks, he had been laughed at and told that it was only a fairytale. He had almost given it up, working only to pay Zeff back for having saved his life, when a raven haired boy showed his amazement at his supposedly stupid dream. So, when Luffy offered him to become a pirate, he accepted. Because sailing the seas was the only way to reach All Blue, and by reaching All Blue, he would make his dream come true, at the same time completely paying Zeff back for his sacrifice.

For Nami, being a pirate meant freedom. Ever since she was young, she had been serving Arlong as his navigator. He was holding her whole village hostage, and if she wanted them to be free, she had to buy it back at a really high price. She had started to steal from pirates, and even planned to steal from a raven haired wannabe pirate, but soon she learned it was all a lie. She was meant to be the slave of a fishman pirate all her life. At least, until a rubberman came and beat up Arlong. So, when Luffy offered her to become a pirate, she accepted. Because, although she had hated pirates for so long, she could never resent this crew. Because this crew represented freedom, a beautiful thing she has always yearned for.

For Chopper, being a pirate meant friendship. As a humanoid reindeer, he has always been excluded from society. Ever since he ate that devil fruit, he lived in exclusion. At first, he tried to mingle with his own kind, but he learned the hard way that he wasn't wanted. So, since he was now partly human, he did his best to be accepted by the humans, the ones living in that snowy town. However, there again, he was utterly rejected. He was being called a monster, fear and hatred showing clearly in their eyes as they told him he should never have been born. One person accepted him, though. He took care of him as he would with his own son. And he passed on his love for science to him. Chopper wanted to be like him: kind, caring, considerate, and he wanted to be a doctor. And he became one. Still, he was always rejected by everyone, until Luffy came. Luffy showed him that people like the one he considered his father still existed in the world. People able to care for him for who he really was, not a bloodthirsty monster. So, when Luffy offered him to become a pirate, he accepted. Because in that offer, the raven haired boy promised him acceptance, caring, fun, adventure and, more importantly, friendship. This so simple thing with no price that people often took for granted, and that simple feeling of belonging somewhere that comes with it was all he ever yearned for. So, he accepted.

For Robin, being a pirate meant having a family. Ever since she was a young child, the woman had been placed along the criminals, with a bounty on her head. She always had to run away, from marines, bounty hunters and even pirates. She was way too young to survive on her own in that cruel world, so she had no choice to use other pirates. She joined their crew to travel and try to reach her dream, but they were never more than disposable things. However, when she met Luffy and the others, she couldn't help but grow attached to them. Luffy had saved her life, and she was glad for it, because it had given her a second chance in life. She couldn't erase the past, but now she could see straight ahead without lowering her head in regrets and shame, because that's what the raven haired boy taught her. She had used so many people as her shields, using their lives to protect her own. But with Luffy and his crew, she was willing to give up her own life to act as their shield and to protect them. And that's what she had decided to do. But, there again, the teen didn't let her do as she wanted and saved her. He allowed her to live their adventures, and although she had said she only wanted to die, he still saved her. So, when Luffy offered her to become a pirate, she accepted. Because he promised her that they would truly care for her, like siblings would. He promised to become her family, and having been alone for so long, a family was not what she wanted, it was what she needed.

For Franky, being a pirate meant responsibilities. As a young boy studying under Tom, he had always wanted to create his own ship. The  _ultimate_  ship. The  _one and only one_  that would travel the whole world and get in the biggest of adventures. However, he ended up in the opposite line of work after Tom's death. He had to destroy ships instead of building them. It wasn't that bad of a job, but it still wasn't what he wanted. However, he had met  _that_  ship. Merry, the ship radiating with love for her crew. She had travelled through a lot, that much was obvious, and it was because of her travels that she ended up in front of him. She was dying, couldn't transport her crew anymore. He knew the ship loved them, but he didn't know how much the crew loved her until the moment of her funerals, when they were all giving her pained farewells, lots of respect for her and regrets for not having taken care of her properly to avoid this heartbreaking separation. Seeing all of this, though, changed Franky point of view. He had new requirement for his dream ship, dream that had been re-awaken by that raven haired crying boy. He wanted his dream ship to be like Merry and, most of all, he wanted his ship to have a crew like them. No, he wanted his ship to be  _his_  ship, the Pirate King's ship. Luffy's ship. So he brought the Thousand Sunny into this world, to become that crew's new companion. He was sure that his ship would be well taken care of, and didn't mind to stay behind and watch Sunny sail away. However, when Luffy offered him to become a pirate, he accepted. Because although Sunny was Luffy's ship, it was still his responsibility to make sure the lion fulfil his purposes: travel the whole world, live the biggest of adventures, love his crew, being loved by his crew and being the Pirate King's ship. But, for it to be all completely true, he had to make sure that Luffy really becomes the Pirate King. Because that was his responsibility.

For Brook, being a pirate meant life. When he first became one, he had wanted freedom and adventures. And he got them both, until that happened. He was killed, and so were all of the members in his crew. The difference between him and them, though, was that he couldn't die like they did. Because of that devil fruit. He got stuck on this ship on which he travelled for so long, the bones of his companions the only sign of human "life" on the ghost ship, floating in a sea of fog. Plus, he had had his shadow stolen, so he couldn't even try to get out of there by fear of getting killed by the sun. It's not like he could escape the fog in the first place anyway. He was doomed to live painful long years of sorrow and loneliness. He cursed his devil fruit so many times that even God had lost count of it. And soon, really soon, he thought that dying was way better than live so long like he did. Silence was his only answer when he talked, his own echoes were his only comfort when he mourned for his fallen companions. However, meeting with this raven haired boy was the only happiness he had felt since he got stuck there. His crew was loud, energetic,  _alive_ , much like their captain, and the dead skeleton felt a sharp pain in his rib cage when looking at them, because it made him remember of his old times he could never go back to. Instead, he would get roam the fog in sorrow and loneliness until the end of the world finally comes. So, when Luffy asked him to be a part of his crew, he refused. Because he would only be a burden to them, having to hide from both the sun and the people. But the boy just smiled and finally did as he said he'd do: get his shadow back. He didn't have any good reason to refuse anymore. So, when Luffy offered him to become a pirate once again, he accepted. Because Luffy, behind those words, proposed him to live, for real. Because he might never go back to the old times, but now he could at least move forward. He would not forget any of his past, and he wasn't betraying his old crew. He didn't leave them behind. Rather, he brought them with him as he continued forward, embracing them in his heart. Because he might have cursed his devil fruit ability, but now he believed that all that pain had been worth living if it was to be a part of Luffy's crew.

For Luffy, being a pirate meant all of that, and much, much, much more. Being a pirate was a way to reach his goal. It was in fact the  _only_  way. It also meant adventures, just like the stories Shanks used to tell him when he was younger, or maybe even more awesome than those. It meant an occasion to make his dream come true. To become the Pirate King, he had to find One Piece, and to find One Piece, he had to roam the seas, which meant being a pirate. It also meant freedom. He would live with his own rules, doing what he thought was right. It was a way to make better justice than the one the marines claimed to bring. Being a pirate meant making new friends, building a strong and solid relation with his crew members, creating his second family, one by bond a lot more tight and important than blood relations. Being a pirate was also a responsibility, because he had to make sure his whole crew stayed safe through all of their adventures. He had to make sure that each one of them was happy being within his crew and that they eventually reach their own individual goals. Being captain, it was his responsibility to make sure that each member performs all of their tasks, respected and obeyed him. It was his responsibility to keep peace onto his ship and that everything was getting along in harmony. Being a pirate, for Luffy, meant his life. It made him who he was and he couldn't even dare to imagine being something else. For Luffy, being a pirate meant the whole world.

And every one of his crew members, from Zoro to Brook, knew all of this. Actually, it might be the only real reason why each of them accepted being a pirate.

Because Luffy had become their whole world.


End file.
